pandas

It's caused by fur loss around the eyes

(Newser) -
A dozen pandas at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding appear to be losing their distinctive black eye patches. Their plight got attention on social media after users posted pictures of pandas whose eye patches appeared to be turning white, Quartz reports. What's actually happening: The pandas...
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Panda cub leaves DC to take part in breeding program in China

(Newser) -
The National Zoo in Washington is saying a final goodbye to its panda cub Bao Bao. The zoo is packing up the US-born panda for a one-way flight Tuesday to China, where the 3-year-old will eventually join a breeding program, the AP reports. Bao Bao is scheduled to leave the...
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And he's got the newspapers to prove it

(Newser) -
The Taipei Zoo is offering a "proof of life" photo in an attempt to debunk rumors that a prized panda died recently, the AP reports. Photos released by the zoo this week show 11-year-old Tuan Tuan looking at newspapers laid out in front of his inner enclosure to prove...
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Surviving panda twin is a male: National Zoo

(Newser) -
The National Zoo's panda parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, have a son. The zoo announced this morning that the surviving panda cub is male and the son of the zoo's male panda, Tian Tian. Mei Xiang gave birth to fraternal twins Saturday, but the smaller cub—also...
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Mei Xiang loses the smaller of her two babies

(Newser) -
A heartbreaking update to the story of Mei Xiang's panda cubs: The smaller twin born to the National Zoo panda has died. The new mom had started ignoring the smaller cub in favor of nursing the bigger one, and the zoo tweeted today, "We are sad to report...
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Smaller cub in care of vets is having digestive issues

(Newser) -
Workers at the National Zoo are continuing to care for one panda cub while the other is safely in the care of its mother—but it appears Mei Xiang has decided she is "not a willing participant" in the zoo's swapping program , reports Smithsonian . Since the twin cubs'...
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Cross your fingers: a panda cub could be on the way

(Newser) -
Congratulations are in order for the National Zoo's female giant panda—or so veterinarians hope based on an ultrasound yesterday: Mei Xiang is presumably pregnant. Experts are cautious as the 1.5-inch-long fetus could still be reabsorbed or the panda could miscarry. Research vet Pierre Comizzoli says the ultrasound...
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Gut bacteria reveals they were designed to eat meat, not bamboo

(Newser) -
Pandas have been munching on bamboo for 7 million years and exclusively for 2 million years, so it was a big surprise when researchers analyzed 121 fecal samples from 45 giant pandas and found gut bacteria not at all designed to process the animals' food of choice. Though pandas developed...
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Bai Yun's chipped lower canine was repaired on Wednesday

(Newser) -
One of the most reproductively successful pandas in captivity is no longer stuck with a chipped tooth. On Wednesday, the San Diego Zoo's giant female panda Bai Yun underwent a procedure to fix a chipped lower canine tooth that could have seriously cut down her bamboo consumption, the Los ...
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Keeping the species going is a waste of time and money, writes Timothy Lavin

(Newser) -
This may prove to be one of the more controversial opinion pieces in recent memory. Timothy Lavin isn't slamming sleazy politicians or Wall Street bankers. No, he's speaking out against ... pandas . Cute as they are, Lavin writes at Bloomberg , they are a "hopeless and wasteful species the...
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Bacteria may unleash host of neurological problems in some

(Newser) -
Strep may be causing much more than a sore throat among children. The powerful bacteria could be triggering a host of neurological problems from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder to nervous tics, anorexia, and hyperactivity, some scientists believe. Millions of US children develop strep throat each year, and most cases are quickly...
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Wildlife expert plans to use panda poo to make $36K-per-pound tea

(Newser) -
If you thought the world's most expensive coffee was disgustingly weird, you haven't seen anything yet: A wildlife expert in China is trying to make the world's priciest tea. The costly ingredient? Panda poop. An Yanshi plans to use the feces he has collected from a panda...
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Five more years, to be exact

(Newser) -
Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, those sweet, cuddly pandas that rank among our national treasures, actually aren't ours—but we get to keep them for a little while longer. At last night's state dinner, Obama announced that China, which has been loaning us the creatures under an agreement that expired...
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Ben could fetch up to $30K

(Newser) -
The tiny calf was born Friday with a white belt and a white face with black eyes—bearing a striking resemblance to a panda, and now one of only 24 so-called panda cows on the planet. "Ben" was delivered by a lowline Angus cow named Bella in northern Colorado,...
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Japan over-anesthesized China's male days after fishing boat incident

(Newser) -
The death of a panda is worsening already-strained diplomatic relations between China and Japan. China loaned Xing Xing, a 14-year-old male, to a Japanese zoo, and he died last week after being anesthetized so zoo workers could collect his sperm for use in artificial insemination. Chinese officials believe the animal...
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Mei Xiang not expecting after all, National Zoo says

(Newser) -
Mei Xiang's latest pregnancy has turned out to be another fake, disappointed zookeepers at the National Zoo say. The panda showed all the signs of pregnancy—including elevated hormone levels, building bamboo nests, and cradling objects as if they were cubs—but tests have revealed that she isn't really pregnant,...
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After quarantine, Tai Shan and Mei Lan will be split up

(Newser) -
China rolled out the red carpet today for pandas Tai Shan and Mei Lan, who arrived in Chengdu after a 15-hour flight from the US. Tai Shan was born at the National Zoo in Washington and Mei Lan at the Atlanta Zoo, but because their parents are Chinese, they had...
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Washington's Tai Shan and Atlanta's Mei Lan moving to China to breed

(Newser) -
Washington will bid its favorite panda adieu on Feb. 4, when Tai Shan leaves for China to breed, accompanied by Zoo Atlanta's Mei Lan. “It's like sending off your own child to college,” Tai Shan's fan club founder tells the Post , adding that fan club members have raised...
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(Newser) -
Tai Shan, the giant panda who captivated the world as a cub, turned 4 today and celebrated with a huge birthday cake only an animal could love. The three-tiered concoction was a frozen medley of water, beet juice, shredded beets, and bamboo, WTOP reports. Tai Shan, who is now considered...
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(Newser) -
Not even massive layoffs in its own house can stop Google from having a little fun on April Fools' Day, the Business Insider reports. The search giant announced it had turned on CADIE, the "world’s first 'artificial intelligence' tasked-array system." The neural network quickly went rogue and...
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